Silvan D'Alisa
Silvan D'Alisa is the fourth character of staff member Heiko Alkema. D'Alisa is the highest ranking Italian character on IO, and the first to serve exclusively with the Royal Italian Army (earlier Italian characters, such as Nazario Battista, served with German units). Pre-Military History Life was never particularly unkind to Silvan. He was born in 1912, the only child of Callisto and Emilia D'Alisa. His names came from Silvan D'Alisa and Marcussen Battista, a prominent general from his father's side and a politician from his mothers. Both parents were members of well established aristocratic families, his mother's side had very strong political ties and his father was a descendant of a long line of military men, and both could trace their lineage back to the Roman Republic. These ties would shelter Silvan for most of his early life. The Great War only briefly touched Silvan's world. In the wake of the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, Colonel Callisto D'Alisa was among the nationalist who believed this was Italy's opportunity to seize control of Italian territories from the ailing empire to the east. The elder D'Alisa used his wife's connection to pull strings and was shipped off for to fight in the north, returning only a few months later after the failure of the Vienna offensives in 1915. The eventual victory by default was bittersweet at best for Silvan's father. Silvan's family was mostly isolated from the unrest of the 20's and 30's. Silvan was sheltered from the radical ideologies of the day by his mother, who would remove him from any room in which politics were being discussed. She believed that a politically neutral stance was the best to have in turbulent times. Thus, Silvan Marcussen D'Alisa remained more or less apolitical throughout his early years, his mother even picked out similarly minded tutors for his education. Despite his mother's efforts, Silvan's father still managed to instill a deep sense of Italian nationalism in Silvan, preaching constantly of Italy's need to regain its position as a world power. Thus Silvan grew into a fierce patriot in the realm of foreign affairs, yet completely ambivalent to the domestic structure of Italy. Fascism, Communism, Republicanism - They were all the same to Silvan, things to be left to people of lesser stature than himself. Being the patriot he was, Silvan attended the Royal Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in the hopes of leading Italy to its new empire. Here Silvan's apolitical nature truly paid off as he was not distracted by the rise of the Fascists and instead was able to devote himself completely to the art of war. Silvan's devotion earned him the praise of his instructors and the scorn of his peers. On more than one occasion the jealousy of his fellow cadets boiled over into violent physical conflicts. One instance even involved Silvan nearly killing another student... with a rolling pin after the other student produced a knife during a fight while on kitchen duty. The other student, who had instigated the fight, was left with a broken arm and collar bone, a severe concussion, and was expelled upon his discharge from the local hospital; Silvan, on the other hand, came out with a few scratches, a bruise, and a written warning. At the age of 22, Silvan M. D'Alisa graduated at the top of his class and was commissioned into the Regio Esercito Italiano at the rank of Tenente. Early Military History Second Italo-Abyssinian War Naturally, Silvan was present during the conquest of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. Here he proved himself in skirmish after skirmish against the ill prepared and equipped Abyssinians. His crowning achievement was the destruction of an entire company of Ethiopian Regulars. Silvan's accomplishments did not go unnoticed and he was Mentioned in Despatches. Spanish Civil War In 1936, Silvan was amongst the Italian volunteers who comprised the Corpo Truppe Volontarie and helped bring the Spanish Nationalists victory in their civil war. During the war, Silvan was made Acting Commanding Officer of his company following the death of the Capitano in an ambush. Silvan went on to lead his company well enough to gain the attention of his superiors and was granted the rank of full Capitano upon his return to Italy. Second World War Capitano Silvan Marcussen D'Alisa found himself in North Africa almost immediately following Italy's declaration of war on France and Great Britain in 1939. His company laid the first Italian boots on Egyptian soil, the start of Italy's first earnest offensive of the war. IO History List of battles and statistics Battles * none Statistics *Victories: 0 *Loses: 0 *Kills: 0 *KIA: 0 Category:Characters of Issuing Orders